Desmond Morgan has developed some rituals during his four years as West Ottawa’s starting linebacker.

Some of them, such as delivering punishing hits, are obvious. Others can easily go overlooked, such as his rigorous year-round conditioning program. Others might give him the slightest edge, such as sprinting before the start of the second half. But he’ll take it.

Morgan’s hard work paid off in the form of six forced fumbles and 55 total tackles in eight games, all while starting at quarterback, too.

The senior has been named The Sentinel’s 2010 Defensive Player of the Year, headlining a 12-member all-area first team.

Morgan has done whatever he can to prepare for playing at the next level, and this season he stepped up his leadership and playing speed in taking the Panthers to the playoffs for the first time since 2005.

“He’s definitely one of the best players we’ve ever had in school history,” West Ottawa coach Jim Caserta said of Morgan, who holds scholarship offers from Michigan, Northwestern and several Mid-American Conference schools. “I can only speak for the last 15 years, but he is definitely somewhere toward the top of the list.”

Caserta said he counted on Morgan to step up his leadership this season, and Morgan delivered.

“He knows where everybody is supposed to be. He makes the calls on defense and just his presence out there makes other guys around him better as well,” Caserta said. “… When you gameplan against us, you have to put at least a couple guys on him, and it makes the guys around him better.”

West Ottawa held teams to an average of 16.5 points per game this season. Morgan, of course, won’t take credit for it all.

“I think everybody did a great job this year of doing their assignments, especially the guys up front,” he said. “The defensive line was keeping guys off the linebackers, allowing them to make plays.”

Morgan injured his shoulder and had to sit out on defense for three games. He returned against Muskegon and didn’t miss a beat. Just ask the Big Reds coach, Shane Fairfield.

“Desmond Morgan playing sideline to sideline, that kid can play at any college right now and I’ve admired that kid,” Fairfield said after his team won 28-14. “That kid has inspired our defense, just watching him on film.

“He comes out here and runs like he’s Ironman. I’m glad our linebackers had a chance to play against him, because he made us grow up and realize how to play linebacker.”

Morgan said playing quarterback, where he accounted for 16 total touchdowns and more than 1,300 yards, also helped him on defense.

“I was able to understand more about what offenses were thinking on down and distance in difference scenarios throughout the game, because I was going through it on the other side of the ball,” he said.

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“So I think I understood what the offensive coordinators were thinking.”

FIRST TEAM

KJ Alfaro

School: Zeeland East

Position: Defensive lineman

Grade: Senior

Highlights: Led dominant defensive front with 57 tackles. Made two key sacks in the team’s regional final against East Grand Rapids. First team All-OK Green selection. Served mainly as the team’s long snapper last season.

Coach’s comment: “(Alfaro) was a tremendous player for us this year. He made a lot of plays behind the line of scrimmage and was the fastest defensive lineman.” — Derek Pennington, Zeeland East

Patrick Banks

School: Zeeland East

Position: Defensive lineman

Grade: Sophomore

Highlights: The first team All-OK Green selection made 55 tackles this season, including an 11-tackle performance in the team’s regular season finale against Byron Center. Can squat a school-best 500 pounds. Helped the Chix to an 11-1 record, including a perfect 9-0 regular season.

Coach’s comment: “He moves pretty well (at 290 pounds) and is just a kid that is really hard to block because of his low center of gravity.” — Derek Pennington, Zeeland East

Josh Blanton

School: Zeeland West

Position: Linebacker

Grade: Junior

Highlights: Led the team with a school-record 133 total tackles, including 22 tackles for loss, despite missing about 2 1/2 games with a separated shoulder. First team All-OK Green selection. Helped the Dux to a 9-2 record including their first trip to the playoffs since 2007.

Coach’s comment: “He was just kind of a dynamic tackling machine, and he was physical and fast, and he played very free on defense.” — John Shillito, Zeeland West

Keegan DenUyl

School: Zeeland East

Position: Linebacker

Grade: Senior

Highlights: The first team All-OK Green selection made 106 total tackles. Middle linebacker on a defense that held nine teams to fewer than 14 points.

Coach’s comment: “I would say (DenUyl was) the heart of our defense most of the year. Did a great job making plays, not only in the middle, but getting out to the perimeter.” — Derek Pennington, Zeeland East

Kyle Kujawa

School: Zeeland West

Position: Safety

Grade: Junior

Highlights: Team’s second-leading tackler with 76, also had three interceptions and four deflections. First team All-OK Green selection. Helped the Dux to nine wins and their first trip to the playoffs since 2007, the year they won a Division 4 state championship.

Coach’s comment: “Kyle had a tremendous year for us, real playmaker in the running game. Cleaned up anything.” — John Shillito, Zeeland West

Kyle Rasmussen

School: Saugatuck

Position: Defensive lineman

Grade: Junior

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Highlights: Team’s second-leading tackler with 99.5, including 16.5 sacks. In a win over Lawrence, he had 13 tackles, three sacks, an interception, a blocked punt, a tackle for a safety and a fumble recovery. Division 7-8 All State special mention. Also the starting center. Named first team All-SAC both ways.

Coach’s comment: “Just a physical dominating player on both sides of the ball. He has a great work ethic as well. Blocks well, tackles well, has that ability to shut down one side of the field.” — Bill Dunn, Saugatuck

Nathan Ricketts

School: Holland

Position: Linebacker

Grade: Junior

Highlights: Filled the stat sheet with 118 tackles, six tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, two interceptions, and six passes defended. First team All-OK Black for second season.

Coach’s comment: “We asked Nathan to step it up this year, and he did. He was more physical at the point of attack, more active against the pass and contributed on offense more and more as the season progressed.” — Shawn McManus, Holland

Curtis Smith

School: West Ottawa

Position: Defensive lineman

Grade: Senior

Highlights: The 6-foot-4, 240 pounds two-way starter had six sacks on the season and 31 total tackles. First team All-OK Red selection.

Coach’s comment: “Curtis was hurt last year, so we were hoping that Curtis would come back and have a big impact, and he really did make some big plays for us. He’s tall, he’s got long arms, he’s aggressive.” — Jim Caserta, West Ottawa

Jeff Vroon

School: Holland Christian

Position: Defensive back

Grade: Senior

Highlights: The second-year starter Forced three fumbles and made 35 tackles despite missing two games with an injury. On offense, had nine touchdowns and 957 all-purpose yards. All-OK Green honorable mention.

Coach’s comment: “He is a hard worker and we have counted on him on multiple fronts. He came up big with a potentially game-saving forced fumble in one game and scored five TDs in another.” — Josh Rumpsa, Holland Christian

Corey Willis

School: Holland

Position: Defensive back

Grade: Sophomore

Highlights: Made four interceptions, two of which he turned for touchdowns, and had 35 tackles. Accounted for more than 1,000 yards and seven touchdowns on offense. Returned a kick 95 yards for a touchdown. First team All-OK Black selection.

Coach’s comment: “Corey’s most exciting game came against Reeths Puffer when he had two one-handed interceptions and had two runs through a myriad of defenders for touchdowns.” — Shawn McManus, Holland

Josh Wisbang

School: West Ottawa

Position: Defensive back

Grade: Senior

Highlights: Made a team-high three interceptions in a defense that held opponents to an average of 16.5 points per game. The two-way starter helped the Panthers reach eight wins for the first time since 2003 and their first playoff appearance since 2005.

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Coach’s comment: “(Wisbang) had some key interceptions during the season. He’ll come up and hit, and he also even filled in at quarterback when Desmond (Morgan) was hurt.” — Jim Caserta, West Ottawa